Computerized systems and methods for reducing latency in a modular platform

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are provided for modular loading of information on a user interface, comprising receiving, by a mobile service gateway, a request for access to a mobile application platform from a user device, transmitting, to an internal application programming interface (API) gateway, a request for a page layout associated with the mobile application platform, receiving, from the API gateway, the page layout associated with the mobile application platform, receiving one or more modules, assigning the one or more modules to the page layout, and displaying the one or more modules on the mobile application platform. The one or more modules may be developed using a fluent interface that is configured to extract data associated with a request for the one or more modules. Each module may be developed based on the extracted data.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to computerized systems andmethods for modular loading of information on a user interface. Inparticular, embodiments of the present disclosure relate to inventiveand unconventional systems relate to reducing latency in modularplatforms by modularizing information to be displayed on a userinterface such that information can be loaded more quickly on the userinterface.

BACKGROUND

Consumers often shop for and purchase various items online throughcomputers, mobile devices, and smart devices. These online shoppersoften rely on online platforms, such as software applications associatedwith various retailers, to search for products and purchase products.Therefore, it is crucial that the computers, mobile devices, smartdevices, and other electronic computing devices are capable of providingcontent to users in a relatively real-time basis with the least amountof latency. For example, users may search for products using theplatforms, and in response, computing devices need to immediatelydisplay requested content for the users in order to facilitate usertransactions and improve customer satisfaction.

However, content to be displayed on these online platforms may havevarious parameters. For example, content available for display may varyin size, format, processing speed, etc. Often, it may take longer toload and display content that is larger in size than content that takesup less processing speed and capacity. When there are various contentthat needs to be displayed on the online platform simultaneously,latency in loading one of the content may delay the loading of the restof the content on a user interface. For instance, if content to bedisplayed at the top of a display page on a user interface fails toload, this may prevent the rest of the display page from loading on theuser interface.

Such latency in displaying content on a user interface may severelyreduce a customer's user experience by prolonging the customer's productsearch, prolonging the customer's online transactions, and reducing thequality of the online platform. Furthermore, manually monitoring theonline platform, detecting loading failures, and correcting suchfailures is often difficult and time-consuming. A customer's userexperience would be significantly improved if the online platformproactively accounts for such failures or latency in content loadingsuch that a failure in loading a portion of the display page will notaffect the rest of the content to be displayed on the display page.

Therefore, there is a need for improved methods and systems for loadingcontent and information on a user interface so that users may quicklyfind and purchase products while online shopping, thereby improving usersatisfaction and user experience of online platforms.

SUMMARY

One aspect of the present disclosure is directed to acomputer-implemented system for modular loading of information on a userinterface. The system may comprise at least one processor; and at leastone non-transitory storage medium comprising instructions that, whenexecuted by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processorto perform steps. The steps may comprise receiving, by a mobile servicegateway, a request for access to a mobile application platform from auser device, transmitting, to an internal application programminginterface (API) gateway, a request for a page layout associated with themobile application platform, receiving, from the API gateway, the pagelayout associated with the mobile application platform, receiving one ormore modules, assigning the one or more modules to the page layout, anddisplaying the one or more modules on the mobile application platform.The one or more modules may be developed using a fluent interface, andthe fluent interface may be configured to extract data associated with arequest for the one or more modules. Each module may be developed basedon the extracted data.

In some embodiments, one or more modular providers may be configured toparse the extracted data and identify at least one of metadataassociated with each module or position information associated with eachmodule. In some embodiments, the one or more modular providers may beconfigured to aggregate at least one of the identified metadata orposition information for the one or more modules. In other embodiments,the mobile service gateway may comprise at least one of authenticationservice, logging service, or monitoring service. In yet anotherembodiment, the mobile service gateway may comprise a circuit breakerconfigured to prevent a failure with the one or more modules frominterfering with the display of the one or more modules on the mobileapplication platform.

In some embodiments, the developed one or more modules may be stored ina database. In some embodiments, the developed one or more modules maycomprise an activatable element configured to direct a user of the userdevice to a destination when activated. In other embodiments, the numberof modules assigned to the page layout may be adjustable. In yet anotherembodiment, the fluent interface may be configured to receive aplurality of requests for data associated with each module in parallel.In some embodiments, the plurality of requests may be prioritized basedon a position information associated with each module.

Another aspect of the present disclosure is directed to a method formodular loading of information on a user interface. The method maycomprise receiving, by a mobile service gateway, a request for access toa mobile application platform from a user device, transmitting, to aninternal application programming interface (API) gateway, a request fora page layout associated with the mobile application platform,receiving, from the API gateway, the page layout associated with themobile application platform, receiving one or more modules, assigningthe one or more modules to the page layout, and displaying the one ormore modules on the mobile application platform. The one or more modulesmay be developed using a fluent interface, and the fluent interface maybe configured to extract data associated with a request for the one ormore modules. Each module may be developed based on the extracted data.

In some embodiments, one or more modular providers may be configured toparse the extracted data and identify at least one of metadataassociated with each module or position information associated with eachmodule. In some embodiments, the one or more modular providers may beconfigured to aggregate at least one of the identified metadata orposition information for the one or more modules. In other embodiments,the mobile service gateway may comprise at least one of authenticationservice, logging service, or monitoring service. In yet anotherembodiment, the mobile service gateway may comprise a circuit breakerconfigured to prevent a failure with the one or more modules frominterfering with the display of the one or more modules on the mobileapplication platform.

In some embodiments, the developed one or more modules may be stored ina database. In some embodiments, the developed one or more modules maycomprise an activatable element configured to direct a user of the userdevice to a destination when activated. In other embodiments, the fluentinterface may be configured to receive a plurality of requests for dataassociated with each module in parallel. In some embodiments, theplurality of requests may be prioritized based on a position informationassociated with each module.

Yet another aspect of the present disclosure is directed to acomputer-implemented system for modular loading of information on a userinterface. The system may comprise at least one processor; and at leastone non-transitory storage medium comprising instructions that, whenexecuted by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processorto perform steps. The steps may comprise receiving, by a mobile servicegateway, a request for access to a mobile application platform from auser device, transmitting, to an internal application programminginterface (API) gateway, a request for a page layout associated with themobile application platform, receiving, from the API gateway, the pagelayout associated with the mobile application platform, receiving one ormore modules, assigning the one or more modules to the page layout, anddisplaying the one or more modules on the mobile application platform.The one or more modules may be developed using a fluent interface, andthe fluent interface may be configured to extract data associated with arequest for the one or more modules. One or more modular providers maybe configured to parse the extracted data, identify a positioninformation associated with each module, and develop each module basedon the extracted data. The developed one or more modules may be storedin a database.

Other systems, methods, and computer-readable media are also discussedherein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a schematic block diagram illustrating an exemplaryembodiment of a network comprising computerized systems forcommunications enabling shipping, transportation, and logisticsoperations, consistent with the disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 1B depicts a sample Search Result Page (SRP) that includes one ormore search results satisfying a search request along with interactiveuser interface elements, consistent with the disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 1C depicts a sample Single Display Page (SDP) that includes aproduct and information about the product along with interactive userinterface elements, consistent with the disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 1D depicts a sample Cart page that includes items in a virtualshopping cart along with interactive user interface elements, consistentwith the disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 1E depicts a sample Order page that includes items from the virtualshopping cart along with information regarding purchase and shipping,along with interactive user interface elements, consistent with thedisclosed embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic illustration of an exemplary fulfillment centerconfigured to utilize disclosed computerized systems, consistent withthe disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodimentof a system comprising computerized systems for modular loading ofinformation on a user interface, consistent with the disclosedembodiments.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a pluralityof modules displayed on a user interface, consistent with the disclosedembodiments.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a methodfor modular loading of information on a user interface, consistent withthe disclosed embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings.Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawingsand the following description to refer to the same or similar parts.While several illustrative embodiments are described herein,modifications, adaptations and other implementations are possible. Forexample, substitutions, additions, or modifications may be made to thecomponents and steps illustrated in the drawings, and the illustrativemethods described herein may be modified by substituting, reordering,removing, or adding steps to the disclosed methods. Accordingly, thefollowing detailed description is not limited to the disclosedembodiments and examples. Instead, the proper scope of the invention isdefined by the appended claims.

Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to systems andmethods configured for modular loading of information on a user device.The disclosed embodiments are advantageously capable of reducing latencyon a modular platform by dividing a page layout into a plurality ofsections, assigning one or more modules to the plurality of sections inthe page layout, and displaying the one or more modules.

Referring to FIG. 1A, a schematic block diagram 100 illustrating anexemplary embodiment of a system comprising computerized systems forcommunications enabling shipping, transportation, and logisticsoperations is shown. As illustrated in FIG. 1A, system 100 may include avariety of systems, each of which may be connected to one another viaone or more networks. The systems may also be connected to one anothervia a direct connection, for example, using a cable. The depictedsystems include a shipment authority technology (SAT) system 101, anexternal front end system 103, an internal front end system 105, atransportation system 107, mobile devices 107A, 107B, and 107C, sellerportal 109, shipment and order tracking (SOT) system 111, fulfillmentoptimization (FO) system 113, fulfillment messaging gateway (FMG) 115,supply chain management (SCM) system 117, warehouse management system119, mobile devices 119A, 119B, and 119C (depicted as being inside offulfillment center (FC) 200), 3^(rd) party fulfillment systems 121A,121B, and 121C, fulfillment center authorization system (FC Auth) 123,and labor management system (LMS) 125.

SAT system 101, in some embodiments, may be implemented as a computersystem that monitors order status and delivery status. For example, SATsystem 101 may determine whether an order is past its Promised DeliveryDate (PDD) and may take appropriate action, including initiating a neworder, reshipping the items in the non-delivered order, canceling thenon-delivered order, initiating contact with the ordering customer, orthe like. SAT system 101 may also monitor other data, including output(such as a number of packages shipped during a particular time period)and input (such as the number of empty cardboard boxes received for usein shipping). SAT system 101 may also act as a gateway between differentdevices in system 100, enabling communication (e.g., usingstore-and-forward or other techniques) between devices such as externalfront end system 103 and FO system 113.

External front end system 103, in some embodiments, may be implementedas a computer system that enables external users to interact with one ormore systems in system 100. For example, in embodiments where system 100enables the presentation of systems to enable users to place an orderfor an item, external front end system 103 may be implemented as a webserver that receives search requests, presents item pages, and solicitspayment information. For example, external front end system 103 may beimplemented as a computer or computers running software such as theApache HTTP Server, Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS),NGINX, or the like. In other embodiments, external front end system 103may run custom web server software designed to receive and processrequests from external devices (e.g., mobile device 102A or computer102B), acquire information from databases and other data stores based onthose requests, and provide responses to the received requests based onacquired information.

In some embodiments, external front end system 103 may include one ormore of a web caching system, a database, a search system, or a paymentsystem. In one aspect, external front end system 103 may comprise one ormore of these systems, while in another aspect, external front endsystem 103 may comprise interfaces (e.g., server-to-server,database-to-database, or other network connections) connected to one ormore of these systems.

An illustrative set of steps, illustrated by FIGS. 1B, 1C, 1D, and 1E,will help to describe some operations of external front end system 103.External front end system 103 may receive information from systems ordevices in system 100 for presentation and/or display. For example,external front end system 103 may host or provide one or more web pages,including a Search Result Page (SRP) (e.g., FIG. 1B), a Single DetailPage (SDP) (e.g., FIG. 1C), a Cart page (e.g., FIG. 1D), or an Orderpage (e.g., FIG. 1E). A user device (e.g., using mobile device 102A orcomputer 102B) may navigate to external front end system 103 and requesta search by entering information into a search box. External front endsystem 103 may request information from one or more systems in system100. For example, external front end system 103 may request informationfrom FO System 113 that satisfies the search request. External front endsystem 103 may also request and receive (from FO System 113) a PromisedDelivery Date or “PDD” for each product included in the search results.The PDD, in some embodiments, may represent an estimate of when apackage containing the product will arrive at the user's desiredlocation or a date by which the product is promised to be delivered atthe user's desired location if ordered within a particular period oftime, for example, by the end of the day (11:59 PM). (PDD is discussedfurther below with respect to FO System 113.)

External front end system 103 may prepare an SRP (e.g., FIG. 1B) basedon the information. The SRP may include information that satisfies thesearch request. For example, this may include pictures of products thatsatisfy the search request. The SRP may also include respective pricesfor each product, or information relating to enhanced delivery optionsfor each product, PDD, weight, size, offers, discounts, or the like.External front end system 103 may send the SRP to the requesting userdevice (e.g., via a network).

A user device may then select a product from the SRP, e.g., by clickingor tapping a user interface, or using another input device, to select aproduct represented on the SRP. The user device may formulate a requestfor information on the selected product and send it to external frontend system 103. In response, external front end system 103 may requestinformation related to the selected product. For example, theinformation may include additional information beyond that presented fora product on the respective SRP. This could include, for example, shelflife, country of origin, weight, size, number of items in package,handling instructions, or other information about the product. Theinformation could also include recommendations for similar products(based on, for example, big data and/or machine learning analysis ofcustomers who bought this product and at least one other product),answers to frequently asked questions, reviews from customers,manufacturer information, pictures, or the like.

External front end system 103 may prepare an SDP (Single Detail Page)(e.g., FIG. 1C) based on the received product information. The SDP mayalso include other interactive elements such as a “Buy Now” button, a“Add to Cart” button, a quantity field, a picture of the item, or thelike. The SDP may further include a list of sellers that offer theproduct. The list may be ordered based on the price each seller offerssuch that the seller that offers to sell the product at the lowest pricemay be listed at the top. The list may also be ordered based on theseller ranking such that the highest ranked seller may be listed at thetop. The seller ranking may be formulated based on multiple factors,including, for example, the seller's past track record of meeting apromised PDD. External front end system 103 may deliver the SDP to therequesting user device (e.g., via a network).

The requesting user device may receive the SDP which lists the productinformation. Upon receiving the SDP, the user device may then interactwith the SDP. For example, a user of the requesting user device mayclick or otherwise interact with a “Place in Cart” button on the SDP.This adds the product to a shopping cart associated with the user. Theuser device may transmit this request to add the product to the shoppingcart to external front end system 103.

External front end system 103 may generate a Cart page (e.g., FIG. 1D).The Cart page, in some embodiments, lists the products that the user hasadded to a virtual “shopping cart.” A user device may request the Cartpage by clicking on or otherwise interacting with an icon on the SRP,SDP, or other pages. The Cart page may, in some embodiments, list allproducts that the user has added to the shopping cart, as well asinformation about the products in the cart such as a quantity of eachproduct, a price for each product per item, a price for each productbased on an associated quantity, information regarding PDD, a deliverymethod, a shipping cost, user interface elements for modifying theproducts in the shopping cart (e.g., deletion or modification of aquantity), options for ordering other product or setting up periodicdelivery of products, options for setting up interest payments, userinterface elements for proceeding to purchase, or the like. A user at auser device may click on or otherwise interact with a user interfaceelement (e.g., a button that reads “Buy Now”) to initiate the purchaseof the product in the shopping cart. Upon doing so, the user device maytransmit this request to initiate the purchase to external front endsystem 103.

External front end system 103 may generate an Order page (e.g., FIG. 1E)in response to receiving the request to initiate a purchase. The Orderpage, in some embodiments, re-lists the items from the shopping cart andrequests input of payment and shipping information. For example, theOrder page may include a section requesting information about thepurchaser of the items in the shopping cart (e.g., name, address, e-mailaddress, phone number), information about the recipient (e.g., name,address, phone number, delivery information), shipping information(e.g., speed/method of delivery and/or pickup), payment information(e.g., credit card, bank transfer, check, stored credit), user interfaceelements to request a cash receipt (e.g., for tax purposes), or thelike. External front end system 103 may send the Order page to the userdevice.

The user device may enter information on the Order page and click orotherwise interact with a user interface element that sends theinformation to external front end system 103. From there, external frontend system 103 may send the information to different systems in system100 to enable the creation and processing of a new order with theproducts in the shopping cart.

In some embodiments, external front end system 103 may be furtherconfigured to enable sellers to transmit and receive informationrelating to orders.

Internal front end system 105, in some embodiments, may be implementedas a computer system that enables internal users (e.g., employees of anorganization that owns, operates, or leases system 100) to interact withone or more systems in system 100. For example, in embodiments wheresystem 100 enables the presentation of systems to enable users to placean order for an item, internal front end system 105 may be implementedas a web server that enables internal users to view diagnostic andstatistical information about orders, modify item information, or reviewstatistics relating to orders. For example, internal front end system105 may be implemented as a computer or computers running software suchas the Apache HTTP Server, Microsoft Internet Information Services(IIS), NGINX, or the like. In other embodiments, internal front endsystem 105 may run custom web server software designed to receive andprocess requests from systems or devices depicted in system 100 (as wellas other devices not depicted), acquire information from databases andother data stores based on those requests, and provide responses to thereceived requests based on acquired information.

In some embodiments, internal front end system 105 may include one ormore of a web caching system, a database, a search system, a paymentsystem, an analytics system, an order monitoring system, or the like. Inone aspect, internal front end system 105 may comprise one or more ofthese systems, while in another aspect, internal front end system 105may comprise interfaces (e.g., server-to-server, database-to-database,or other network connections) connected to one or more of these systems.

Transportation system 107, in some embodiments, may be implemented as acomputer system that enables communication between systems or devices insystem 100 and mobile devices 107A-107C. Transportation system 107, insome embodiments, may receive information from one or more mobiledevices 107A-107C (e.g., mobile phones, smart phones, PDAs, or thelike). For example, in some embodiments, mobile devices 107A-107C maycomprise devices operated by delivery workers. The delivery workers, whomay be permanent, temporary, or shift employees, may utilize mobiledevices 107A-107C to effect delivery of packages containing the productsordered by users. For example, to deliver a package, the delivery workermay receive a notification on a mobile device indicating which packageto deliver and where to deliver it. Upon arriving at the deliverylocation, the delivery worker may locate the package (e.g., in the backof a truck or in a crate of packages), scan or otherwise capture dataassociated with an identifier on the package (e.g., a barcode, an image,a text string, an RFID tag, or the like) using the mobile device, anddeliver the package (e.g., by leaving it at a front door, leaving itwith a security guard, handing it to the recipient, or the like). Insome embodiments, the delivery worker may capture photo(s) of thepackage and/or may obtain a signature using the mobile device. Themobile device may send information to transportation system 107including information about the delivery, including, for example, time,date, GPS location, photo(s), an identifier associated with the deliveryworker, an identifier associated with the mobile device, or the like.Transportation system 107 may store this information in a database (notpictured) for access by other systems in system 100. Transportationsystem 107 may, in some embodiments, use this information to prepare andsend tracking data to other systems indicating the location of aparticular package.

In some embodiments, certain users may use one kind of mobile device(e.g., permanent workers may use a specialized PDA with custom hardwaresuch as a barcode scanner, stylus, and other devices) while other usersmay use other kinds of mobile devices (e.g., temporary or shift workersmay utilize off-the-shelf mobile phones and/or smartphones).

In some embodiments, transportation system 107 may associate a user witheach device. For example, transportation system 107 may store anassociation between a user (represented by, e.g., a user identifier, anemployee identifier, or a phone number) and a mobile device (representedby, e.g., an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI), anInternational Mobile Subscription Identifier (IMSI), a phone number, aUniversal Unique Identifier (UUID), or a Globally Unique Identifier(GUID)). Transportation system 107 may use this association inconjunction with data received on deliveries to analyze data stored inthe database in order to determine, among other things, a location ofthe worker, an efficiency of the worker, or a speed of the worker.

Seller portal 109, in some embodiments, may be implemented as a computersystem that enables sellers or other external entities to electronicallycommunicate with one or more systems in system 100. For example, aseller may utilize a computer system (not pictured) to upload or provideproduct information, order information, contact information, or thelike, for products that the seller wishes to sell through system 100using seller portal 109.

Shipment and order tracking system 111, in some embodiments, may beimplemented as a computer system that receives, stores, and forwardsinformation regarding the location of packages containing productsordered by customers (e.g., by a user using devices 102A-102B). In someembodiments, shipment and order tracking system 111 may request or storeinformation from web servers (not pictured) operated by shippingcompanies that deliver packages containing products ordered bycustomers.

In some embodiments, shipment and order tracking system 111 may requestand store information from systems depicted in system 100. For example,shipment and order tracking system 111 may request information fromtransportation system 107. As discussed above, transportation system 107may receive information from one or more mobile devices 107A-107C (e.g.,mobile phones, smart phones, PDAs, or the like) that are associated withone or more of a user (e.g., a delivery worker) or a vehicle (e.g., adelivery truck). In some embodiments, shipment and order tracking system111 may also request information from warehouse management system (WMS)119 to determine the location of individual products inside of afulfillment center (e.g., fulfillment center 200). Shipment and ordertracking system 111 may request data from one or more of transportationsystem 107 or WMS 119, process it, and present it to a device (e.g.,user devices 102A and 102B) upon request.

Fulfillment optimization (FO) system 113, in some embodiments, may beimplemented as a computer system that stores information for customerorders from other systems (e.g., external front end system 103 and/orshipment and order tracking system 111). FO system 113 may also storeinformation describing where particular items are held or stored. Forexample, certain items may be stored only in one fulfillment center,while certain other items may be stored in multiple fulfillment centers.In still other embodiments, certain fulfilment centers may be designedto store only a particular set of items (e.g., fresh produce or frozenproducts). FO system 113 stores this information as well as associatedinformation (e.g., quantity, size, date of receipt, expiration date,etc.).

FO system 113 may also calculate a corresponding PDD (promised deliverydate) for each product. The PDD, in some embodiments, may be based onone or more factors. For example, FO system 113 may calculate a PDD fora product based on a past demand for a product (e.g., how many timesthat product was ordered during a period of time), an expected demandfor a product (e.g., how many customers are forecast to order theproduct during an upcoming period of time), a network-wide past demandindicating how many products were ordered during a period of time, anetwork-wide expected demand indicating how many products are expectedto be ordered during an upcoming period of time, one or more counts ofthe product stored in each fulfillment center 200, which fulfillmentcenter stores each product, expected or current orders for that product,or the like.

In some embodiments, FO system 113 may determine a PDD for each producton a periodic basis (e.g., hourly) and store it in a database forretrieval or sending to other systems (e.g., external front end system103, SAT system 101, shipment and order tracking system 111). In otherembodiments, FO system 113 may receive electronic requests from one ormore systems (e.g., external front end system 103, SAT system 101,shipment and order tracking system 111) and calculate the PDD on demand.

Fulfilment messaging gateway (FMG) 115, in some embodiments, may beimplemented as a computer system that receives a request or response inone format or protocol from one or more systems in system 100, such asFO system 113, converts it to another format or protocol, and forward itin the converted format or protocol to other systems, such as WMS 119 or3^(rd) party fulfillment systems 121A, 121B, or 121C, and vice versa.

Supply chain management (SCM) system 117, in some embodiments, may beimplemented as a computer system that performs forecasting functions.For example, SCM system 117 may forecast a level of demand for aparticular product based on, for example, based on a past demand forproducts, an expected demand for a product, a network-wide past demand,a network-wide expected demand, a count products stored in eachfulfillment center 200, expected or current orders for each product, orthe like. In response to this forecasted level and the amount of eachproduct across all fulfillment centers, SCM system 117 may generate oneor more purchase orders to purchase and stock a sufficient quantity tosatisfy the forecasted demand for a particular product.

Warehouse management system (WMS) 119, in some embodiments, may beimplemented as a computer system that monitors workflow. For example,WMS 119 may receive event data from individual devices (e.g., devices107A-107C or 119A-119C) indicating discrete events. For example, WMS 119may receive event data indicating the use of one of these devices toscan a package. As discussed below with respect to fulfillment center200 and FIG. 2, during the fulfillment process, a package identifier(e.g., a barcode or RFID tag data) may be scanned or read by machines atparticular stages (e.g., automated or handheld barcode scanners, RFIDreaders, high-speed cameras, devices such as tablet 119A, mobiledevice/PDA 1198, computer 119C, or the like). WMS 119 may store eachevent indicating a scan or a read of a package identifier in acorresponding database (not pictured) along with the package identifier,a time, date, location, user identifier, or other information, and mayprovide this information to other systems (e.g., shipment and ordertracking system 111).

WMS 119, in some embodiments, may store information associating one ormore devices (e.g., devices 107A-107C or 119A-119C) with one or moreusers associated with system 100. For example, in some situations, auser (such as a part- or full-time employee) may be associated with amobile device in that the user owns the mobile device (e.g., the mobiledevice is a smartphone). In other situations, a user may be associatedwith a mobile device in that the user is temporarily in custody of themobile device (e.g., the user checked the mobile device out at the startof the day, will use it during the day, and will return it at the end ofthe day).

WMS 119, in some embodiments, may maintain a work log for each userassociated with system 100. For example, WMS 119 may store informationassociated with each employee, including any assigned processes (e.g.,unloading trucks, picking items from a pick zone, rebin wall work,packing items), a user identifier, a location (e.g., a floor or zone ina fulfillment center 200), a number of units moved through the system bythe employee (e.g., number of items picked, number of items packed), anidentifier associated with a device (e.g., devices 119A-119C), or thelike. In some embodiments, WMS 119 may receive check-in and check-outinformation from a timekeeping system, such as a timekeeping systemoperated on a device 119A-119C.

3^(rd) party fulfillment (3PL) systems 121A-121C, in some embodiments,represent computer systems associated with third-party providers oflogistics and products. For example, while some products are stored infulfillment center 200 (as discussed below with respect to FIG. 2),other products may be stored off-site, may be produced on demand, or maybe otherwise unavailable for storage in fulfillment center 200. 3PLsystems 121A-121C may be configured to receive orders from FO system 113(e.g., through FMG 115) and may provide products and/or services (e.g.,delivery or installation) to customers directly. In some embodiments,one or more of 3PL systems 121A-121C may be part of system 100, while inother embodiments, one or more of 3PL systems 121A-121C may be outsideof system 100 (e.g., owned or operated by a third-party provider).

Fulfillment Center Auth system (FC Auth) 123, in some embodiments, maybe implemented as a computer system with a variety of functions. Forexample, in some embodiments, FC Auth 123 may act as a single-sign on(SSO) service for one or more other systems in system 100. For example,FC Auth 123 may enable a user to log in via internal front end system105, determine that the user has similar privileges to access resourcesat shipment and order tracking system 111, and enable the user to accessthose privileges without requiring a second log in process. FC Auth 123,in other embodiments, may enable users (e.g., employees) to associatethemselves with a particular task. For example, some employees may nothave an electronic device (such as devices 119A-119C) and may insteadmove from task to task, and zone to zone, within a fulfillment center200, during the course of a day. FC Auth 123 may be configured to enablethose employees to indicate what task they are performing and what zonethey are in at different times of day.

Labor management system (LMS) 125, in some embodiments, may beimplemented as a computer system that stores attendance and overtimeinformation for employees (including full-time and part-time employees).For example, LMS 125 may receive information from FC Auth 123, WMS 119,devices 119A-119C, transportation system 107, and/or devices 107A-107C.

The particular configuration depicted in FIG. 1A is an example only. Forexample, while FIG. 1A depicts FC Auth system 123 connected to FO system113, not all embodiments require this particular configuration. Indeed,in some embodiments, the systems in system 100 may be connected to oneanother through one or more public or private networks, including theInternet, an Intranet, a WAN (Wide-Area Network), a MAN(Metropolitan-Area Network), a wireless network compliant with the IEEE802.11a/b/g/n Standards, a leased line, or the like. In someembodiments, one or more of the systems in system 100 may be implementedas one or more virtual servers implemented at a data center, serverfarm, or the like.

FIG. 2 depicts a fulfillment center 200. Fulfillment center 200 is anexample of a physical location that stores items for shipping tocustomers when ordered. Fulfillment center (FC) 200 may be divided intomultiple zones, each of which are depicted in FIG. 2. These “zones,” insome embodiments, may be thought of as virtual divisions betweendifferent stages of a process of receiving items, storing the items,retrieving the items, and shipping the items. So while the “zones” aredepicted in FIG. 2, other divisions of zones are possible, and the zonesin FIG. 2 may be omitted, duplicated, or modified in some embodiments.

Inbound zone 203 represents an area of FC 200 where items are receivedfrom sellers who wish to sell products using system 100 from FIG. 1A.For example, a seller may deliver items 202A and 202B using truck 201.Item 202A may represent a single item large enough to occupy its ownshipping pallet, while item 202B may represent a set of items that arestacked together on the same pallet to save space.

A worker will receive the items in inbound zone 203 and may optionallycheck the items for damage and correctness using a computer system (notpictured). For example, the worker may use a computer system to comparethe quantity of items 202A and 202B to an ordered quantity of items. Ifthe quantity does not match, that worker may refuse one or more of items202A or 202B. If the quantity does match, the worker may move thoseitems (using, e.g., a dolly, a handtruck, a forklift, or manually) tobuffer zone 205. Buffer zone 205 may be a temporary storage area foritems that are not currently needed in the picking zone, for example,because there is a high enough quantity of that item in the picking zoneto satisfy forecasted demand. In some embodiments, forklifts 206 operateto move items around buffer zone 205 and between inbound zone 203 anddrop zone 207. If there is a need for items 202A or 202B in the pickingzone (e.g., because of forecasted demand), a forklift may move items202A or 202B to drop zone 207.

Drop zone 207 may be an area of FC 200 that stores items before they aremoved to picking zone 209. A worker assigned to the picking task (a“picker”) may approach items 202A and 202B in the picking zone, scan abarcode for the picking zone, and scan barcodes associated with items202A and 202B using a mobile device (e.g., device 119B). The picker maythen take the item to picking zone 209 (e.g., by placing it on a cart orcarrying it).

Picking zone 209 may be an area of FC 200 where items 208 are stored onstorage units 210. In some embodiments, storage units 210 may compriseone or more of physical shelving, bookshelves, boxes, totes,refrigerators, freezers, cold stores, or the like. In some embodiments,picking zone 209 may be organized into multiple floors. In someembodiments, workers or machines may move items into picking zone 209 inmultiple ways, including, for example, a forklift, an elevator, aconveyor belt, a cart, a handtruck, a dolly, an automated robot ordevice, or manually. For example, a picker may place items 202A and 202Bon a handtruck or cart in drop zone 207 and walk items 202A and 202B topicking zone 209.

A picker may receive an instruction to place (or “stow”) the items inparticular spots in picking zone 209, such as a particular space on astorage unit 210. For example, a picker may scan item 202A using amobile device (e.g., device 119B). The device may indicate where thepicker should stow item 202A, for example, using a system that indicatean aisle, shelf, and location. The device may then prompt the picker toscan a barcode at that location before stowing item 202A in thatlocation. The device may send (e.g., via a wireless network) data to acomputer system such as WMS 119 in FIG. 1A indicating that item 202A hasbeen stowed at the location by the user using device 119B.

Once a user places an order, a picker may receive an instruction ondevice 1196 to retrieve one or more items 208 from storage unit 210. Thepicker may retrieve item 208, scan a barcode on item 208, and place iton transport mechanism 214. While transport mechanism 214 is representedas a slide, in some embodiments, transport mechanism may be implementedas one or more of a conveyor belt, an elevator, a cart, a forklift, ahandtruck, a dolly, a cart, or the like. Item 208 may then arrive atpacking zone 211.

Packing zone 211 may be an area of FC 200 where items are received frompicking zone 209 and packed into boxes or bags for eventual shipping tocustomers. In packing zone 211, a worker assigned to receiving items (a“rebin worker”) will receive item 208 from picking zone 209 anddetermine what order it corresponds to. For example, the rebin workermay use a device, such as computer 119C, to scan a barcode on item 208.Computer 119C may indicate visually which order item 208 is associatedwith. This may include, for example, a space or “cell” on a wall 216that corresponds to an order. Once the order is complete (e.g., becausethe cell contains all items for the order), the rebin worker mayindicate to a packing worker (or “packer”) that the order is complete.The packer may retrieve the items from the cell and place them in a boxor bag for shipping. The packer may then send the box or bag to a hubzone 213, e.g., via forklift, cart, dolly, handtruck, conveyor belt,manually, or otherwise.

Hub zone 213 may be an area of FC 200 that receives all boxes or bags(“packages”) from packing zone 211. Workers and/or machines in hub zone213 may retrieve package 218 and determine which portion of a deliveryarea each package is intended to go to, and route the package to anappropriate camp zone 215. For example, if the delivery area has twosmaller sub-areas, packages will go to one of two camp zones 215. Insome embodiments, a worker or machine may scan a package (e.g., usingone of devices 119A-119C) to determine its eventual destination. Routingthe package to camp zone 215 may comprise, for example, determining aportion of a geographical area that the package is destined for (e.g.,based on a postal code) and determining a camp zone 215 associated withthe portion of the geographical area.

Camp zone 215, in some embodiments, may comprise one or more buildings,one or more physical spaces, or one or more areas, where packages arereceived from hub zone 213 for sorting into routes and/or sub-routes. Insome embodiments, camp zone 215 is physically separate from FC 200 whilein other embodiments camp zone 215 may form a part of FC 200.

Workers and/or machines in camp zone 215 may determine which routeand/or sub-route a package 220 should be associated with, for example,based on a comparison of the destination to an existing route and/orsub-route, a calculation of workload for each route and/or sub-route,the time of day, a shipping method, the cost to ship the package 220, aPDD associated with the items in package 220, or the like. In someembodiments, a worker or machine may scan a package (e.g., using one ofdevices 119A-119C) to determine its eventual destination. Once package220 is assigned to a particular route and/or sub-route, a worker and/ormachine may move package 220 to be shipped. In exemplary FIG. 2, campzone 215 includes a truck 222, a car 226, and delivery workers 224A and224B. In some embodiments, truck 222 may be driven by delivery worker224A, where delivery worker 224A is a full-time employee that deliverspackages for FC 200 and truck 222 is owned, leased, or operated by thesame company that owns, leases, or operates FC 200. In some embodiments,car 226 may be driven by delivery worker 224B, where delivery worker224B is a “flex” or occasional worker that is delivering on an as-neededbasis (e.g., seasonally). Car 226 may be owned, leased, or operated bydelivery worker 224B.

Referring to FIG. 3, a schematic block diagram illustrating an exemplaryembodiment of a system for modular loading of information on a userinterface is shown. As illustrated in FIG. 3, system 300 may comprise auser device 302, a mobile service gateway 304, a modular platform 306,an application programming interface (API) gateway 308, one or moremodular providers 310A-B, and database 320. In some embodiments, userdevice 302, mobile service gateway 304, modular platform 306, APIgateway 308, one or more modular providers 310A-B, and database 320 maycommunicate with each other and with the other components of system 300via a network or via a direct connection, for example, using a cable. Insome other embodiments, system 300 may be a part of system 100 of FIG.1A and may communicate with the other components of system 100 (e.g.,external front end system 103 or internal front end system 105) via anetwork or via a direct connection, for example, using a cable. Userdevice 302, mobile service gateway 304, modular platform 306, APIgateway 308, and one or more modular providers 310A-B may each comprisea single computer or may each be configured as a distributed computersystem including multiple computers that interoperate to perform one ormore of the processes and functionalities associated with the disclosedexamples. In some embodiments, user device 302 may be mobile device 102Aor computer 102B.

In some embodiments, mobile service gateway 304 may comprise a processor303 and a memory 305. User device 302, modular platform 306, API gateway308, and one or more modular providers 310A-B may also each comprise aprocessor (not shown) and a memory (not shown). Processor 303 may be oneor more known processing devices, such as a microprocessor from thePentium™ family manufactured by Intel™ or the Turion™ familymanufactured by AMD™. Processor 303 may constitute a single core ormultiple core processor that executes parallel processes simultaneously.For example, processor 303 may use logical processors to simultaneouslyexecute and control multiple processes. Processor 303 may implementvirtual machine technologies or other known technologies to provide theability to execute, control, run, manipulate, store, etc. multiplesoftware processes, applications, programs, etc. In another example,processor 303 may include a multiple-core processor arrangementconfigured to provide parallel processing functionalities to allowmodular platform 306, API gateway 308, and one or more modular providers310A-B to execute multiple processes simultaneously. One of ordinaryskill in the art would understand that other types of processorarrangements could be implemented that provide for the capabilitiesdisclosed herein.

Memory 305 may store one or more operating systems that perform knownoperating system functions when executed by processor 303, respectively.By way of example, the operating system may include Microsoft Windows,Unix, Linux, Android, Mac OS, iOS, or other types of operating systems.Accordingly, examples of the disclosed invention may operate andfunction with computer systems running any type of operating system.Memory 305 may be a volatile or non-volatile, magnetic, semiconductor,tape, optical, removable, non-removable, or other type of storage deviceor tangible computer readable medium.

Database 320 may include, for example, Oracle™ databases, Sybase™databases, or other relational databases or non-relational databases,such as Hadoop™ sequence files, HBase™, or Cassandra™. Database 320 mayinclude computing components (e.g., database management system, databaseserver, etc.) configured to receive and process requests for data storedin memory devices of the database(s) and to provide data from thedatabase(s). Database 320 may include NoSQL databases such as H Base,MongoDB™ or Cassandra™. Alternatively, database 320 may includerelational databases such as Oracle, MySQL and Microsoft SQL Server. Insome embodiments, databases 304 and 307 may take the form of servers,general purpose computers, mainframe computers, or any combination ofthese components.

Database 320 may store data that may be used by processor 303 forperforming methods and processes associated with disclosed examples. Asshown in FIG. 3, database 320 may receive and store data from mobileservice gateway 304, modular platform 306, API gateway 308, and/or oneor more modular providers 310A-B. In some embodiments, database 320 maybe located in or coupled to modular platform 306. In other embodiments,modular platform 306 may comprise its own database (not shown) inaddition to database 320 of system 300.

Data stored in database 320 may include any suitable data associatedwith content to be displayed on a user interface of user device 302. Forexample, data stored in database 320 may include data associated withproducts that can be used to provide product search result page, productadvertisement, product listing page, and/or product recommendations onthe user interface of user device 302. By way of example, data stored indatabase 320 may include product type names, product type keywords,related or synonymous product type keywords, product names, productimages, product brands, product descriptions, product manufacturernames, product category information, search tag(s) associated with theproduct, product attribute information, etc.

In some embodiments, data stored in database 320 may include modules311A-B and 312A-B to be displayed on the user interface of user device302. For example, one or more modules 311A-B and 312A-B may be developedbased on data associated with a product, and the developed modules311A-B and 312A-B may be stored in database 320. In some embodiments,one or more modules 311A-B and 312A-B may be stored in database 320 andreused to display content on a user interface of another user device.For example, if one or more modules 311A-B and 312A-B comprise a productadvertisement to be displayed on the user interface, processor 303 ofmobile service gateway 304 may display the one or more modules 311A-Band 312A-B that have been previously developed. Accordingly, the processof loading content on a user interface can be more efficient becausemodular providers 310A-B may not need to re-develop one or more modules311A-B and 312A-B each time.

Database 320 may also store information associated with page layout of auser interface provided by a software application. For example,different page layouts may be associated with different user requests.In some embodiments, when a user searches for a specific product usinguser device 302 and mobile service gateway 304 receives a user requestfor the specific product, processor 303 may request a page layout thatis associated with a product search result page. A page layoutassociated with a product search result page may be different from apage layout associated with a product listing page. Accordingly,database 320 may store page layouts associated with corresponding userrequests.

Modular platform 306 may comprise one or more functions, such as anendpoint mapping service and a page layout service. Accordingly, modularplatform 306 may be configured to manage endpoints associated with arequested IP address or URL by a user of user device 302. For example,modular platform 306 may be configured to manage, maintain, and store anendpoint map that returns connections, applications, and/or rawprocesses that are associated with a requested IP address or URL. Insome embodiments, when processor 303 of mobile service gateway 304receives a request for access to a mobile application platform from userdevice 302, modular platform 306 may be configured to obtain an endpointthat is mapped to the request. The endpoint mapped to the request maybe, for example, a page layout associated with the request, content tobe displayed on the page layout associated with the request (e.g.,product recommendations), or the like.

The endpoint or the page layout associated with the request may be sentto API gateway 308. For example, modular platform 306 may send theendpoint or page layout associated with the request to API gateway 308.Additionally or alternatively, processor 303 of mobile service gateway304 may send the endpoint or page layout associated with the request toAPI gateway 308. API gateway 308 may be configured to aggregate theendpoint information and the page information, such as the page layout,associated with the user request from modular platform 306. API gateway308 may also receive and aggregate information from mobile servicegateway 304. Information received from mobile service gateway 304 mayinclude, but is not limited to, user authentication information, logginginformation, and/or monitoring information. API gateway 308 may alsocomprise a fluent interface that may be configured to extract dataassociated with the user's request. As used herein, a fluent interfacemay refer to an object-oriented API configured to increase codelegibility by creating a domain-specific language (DSL). Because afluent interface provides an easy-readable, flowing interface that oftenmimics a DSL, implementing the fluent interface in the API gateway 308may be useful in extracting data from user requests. For example, thefluent interface may be configured to receive the user's request andextract data associated with the request, such as products associatedwith the request, keywords associated with the request, or the like inorder to deliver content for display that is relevant to the user'srequest. In some embodiments, the fluent interface may be configured toreceive a plurality of user requests in parallel and send data extractedfrom the requests to one or more modular providers 310A-B in parallel todevelop one or more modules 311A-B and 312A-B. In some embodiments, theplurality of user requests may be prioritized based on positioninformation associated with each module. For example, the plurality ofrequests may be prioritized such that a module to be positioned at thetop of a page layout is developed first and a module to be positioned atthe bottom of the page layout is developed last.

In some embodiments, modular providers 310A-B may be configured to parsethe data extracted from the requests by the fluent interface andidentify at least one of metadata associated with each module orposition information associated with each module. For example, based onthe data extracted from the user request, modular providers 310A-B maydetermine metadata associated with content to be displayed in eachmodule and also determine where each module will be placed or positionedin the page layout. In some embodiments, modular providers 310A-B may beconfigured to aggregate the identified metadata and/or positioninformation for the one or more modules and store the aggregatedmetadata and/or position information in database 320.

As shown in FIG. 3, modular providers 310A-B may be configured todevelop one or more modules 311A-B and 312A-B, respectively, with thefluent interface. For example, modular providers 310A-B may beconfigured to provide information associated with products, such asrelated products, product recommendations, etc., to the fluent interfacein order to develop one or more modules 311A-B and 312A-B to bedisplayed in the page layout. In some embodiments, modular provider 310Amay be responsible for developing modules 311A and 311B, while modularprovider 310B may be responsible for developing modules 312A and 312B.While FIG. 3 illustrates two modular providers 310A-B, system 300 maycomprise more than two modular providers 310A-B. Additionally oralternatively, each modular provider may be responsible for developingone or more modules. The one or more modules 311A-B and 312A-B developedmay be stored in database 320.

In some embodiments, mobile service gateway 304 may comprise a softwareor hardware that is configured to provide secure communication betweenuser device 302 and backend resources, including modular platform 306and API gateway 308. In some embodiments, mobile service gateway 304 maybe configured to provide various functions, such as an authenticationservice, logging service, and/or monitoring service. For example,whenever a user of user device 302 requests access to a modularplatform, mobile service gateway 304 may authenticate the user, maintainand store log files, and monitor the user's activities on the modularplatform.

In other embodiments, mobile service gateway 304 may comprise a pageloader configured to display a page layout on a user interface of userdevice 302, as well as one or more modules 311A-B and 312A-B developedbased on the user's request. In some embodiments, mobile service gateway304 may comprise a circuit breaker that is configured to prevent afailure with the one or more modules 311A-B and 312A-B from interferingwith the display of the or more modules 311A-B and 312A-B on the mobileplatform. For example, if module 311A failed to load on the mobileplatform, the circuit breaker in the mobile service gateway 304 maydetect the failure and prevent the failure from displaying the rest ofmodules 311B and 312A-B on the mobile platform. Accordingly, even ifmodule 311A fails to load on the user interface of user device 302,modules 311B, 312A, and 312B will still load on the user interface. Asused herein, a circuit breaker may refer to a software design patternthat is configured to detect failures and encapsulate the logic ofpreventing a failure from constantly recurring, preventing a failureduring maintenance, preventing temporary external system failure,preventing unexpected system difficulties and latencies, or the like.

System 300 may also comprise a network (not shown). A network may be oneor more of a wireless network, a wired network or any combination ofwireless network and wired network. For example, a network may includeone or more of a fiber optic network, a passive optical network, a cablenetwork, an Internet network, a satellite network, a wireless LAN, aGlobal System for Mobile Communication (“GSM”), a Personal CommunicationService (“PCS”), a Personal Area Network (“PAN”), D-AMPS, Wi-Fi, FixedWireless Data, IEEE 802.11b, 802.15.1, 802.11n and 802.11g or any otherwired or wireless network for transmitting and receiving data.

In addition, a network may include, but not be limited to, telephonelines, fiber optics, IEEE Ethernet 802.3, a wide area network (“WAN”), alocal area network (“LAN”), or a global network such as the Internet.Also a network may support an Internet network, a wireless communicationnetwork, a cellular network, or the like, or any combination thereof. Anetwork may further include one network, or any number of the exemplarytypes of networks mentioned above, operating as a stand-alone network orin cooperation with each other. A network may utilize one or moreprotocols of one or more network elements to which they arecommunicatively coupled. A network may translate to or from otherprotocols to one or more protocols of network devices. In someembodiments, a network may comprise a plurality of interconnectednetworks, such as, for example, the Internet, a service provider'snetwork, a cable television network, corporate networks, and homenetworks.

Referring now to FIG. 4, an exemplary user interface 401 of user device400 displaying a plurality of modules 402, 404, 406 is shown. Userdevice 400 may be implemented as user device 302 of FIG. 3. As discussedabove, processor 303 of mobile service gateway 304 may be configured todisplay one or more modules 402, 404, 406 on user interface 401. By wayof example, processor 303 of mobile service gateway 304 may receive aproduct search request for “Cheese” from the user of user device 400.After receiving the request for “Cheese,” processors 303 may obtain amapped endpoint and a page layout associated with a product search for“Cheese” from modular platform 306. The page layout may be sent to APIgateway 308.

Processor 303 may also receive one or more modules 402, 404, 406 fromone or more modular providers to display on user interface 401. By wayof example, the fluent interface of API gateway 308 may extract datafrom the user's product search request for “Cheese.” Based on theextracted data, one or more modular providers, such as modular providers310A-B may develop one or more modules 402, 404, 406 for display on thepage layout. For example, one or more modular providers may developmodule 402, which displays the user's product search request for“Cheese,” module 404, which displays an advertisement for cheese, andmodule 406, which displays a list of suggested products related tocheese. In some embodiments, one or more modules 402, 404, 406 maycomprise an activatable element configured to direct a user of userdevice 400 to a destination when activated. For example, activatableelement 403 in module 404 may be activated by the user, e.g., byclicking on the activatable element 403 or touching the activatableelement 403, and the user may be directed to another page layout to seeadditional details about the product or to purchase the product.

Each of the modules 402, 404, 406 may be developed by respective modularproviders. In other embodiments, one modular provider may develop all ofmodules 402, 404, 406. Although FIG. 4 illustrates three modules 402,404, 406, any number of modules may be displayed on user interface 401.In some embodiments, modules 402, 404, 406 may be developed and loadedin parallel. For example, modular providers may develop respectivemodules 402, 404, 406 in parallel, and processor 303 may load modules402, 404, and 406 in parallel in order to reduce latency in displayingcontent on user interface 401. In other embodiments, one or more modules402, 404, 406 may be prioritized based on its assigned position on userinterface 401. For example, processor 303 may assign module 402 to thetop of the page layout on user interface 401, module 404 to the middleof the page layout on user interface 401, and module 406 to the bottomof the page layout on user interface 401. The position of modules 402,404, 406 may be adjustable by one or more entities in system 300,including for example, mobile service gateway 304, API gateway 308,and/or one or more modular providers 310A-B. Additionally oralternatively, the number of modules displayed on the page layout may beadjustable. Because module 402 is assigned to the top of the pagelayout, the development of module 402 may be prioritized. Then, thedevelopment of module 404 may be prioritized over that of module 406,and so forth.

In some embodiments, mobile service gateway 304 may comprise a circuitbreaker configured to prevent a failure with one or more modules frominterfering with the display of other modules on the mobile applicationplatform or user interface 401. By way of example, if module 404 failsto load, circuit breaker of mobile service gateway 304 may be configuredto allow processor 303 to continue receiving and displaying modules 402and 406 such that user of user device 400 does not experience latency.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method 500 for modularloading of information on a user interface. This exemplary method isprovided by way of example. Method 500 shown in FIG. 5 can be executedor otherwise performed by one or more combinations of various systems.Method 500 as described below may be carried out by mobile servicegateway 304, as shown in FIG. 3, by way of example, and various elementsof that system are referenced in explaining the method of FIG. 5. Eachblock shown in FIG. 5 represents one or more processes, methods, orsubroutines in the exemplary method 500. Referring to FIG. 5, exemplarymethod 500 may begin at block 501.

At block 501, processor 303 of mobile service gateway 304 may receive arequest for access to a mobile application platform from a user device,such as user device 302 and/or user device 400. For example, when a useropens a mobile application and inputs the user's log-in information,such as user ID and password, to the mobile application, processor 303may receive a request for access to the mobile application platform fromthe user device. In response, processor 303 of mobile service gateway304 may perform various functions, such as authenticating the user andstoring log files.

After receiving the request for access from the user, method 500 mayproceed to block 502. At block 502, processor 303 may transmit a requestfor a page layout associated with the mobile application platform. Forexample, processor 303 may transmit a request to modular platform 306for a page layout mapped to the user's request for access to the mobileapplication platform. The page layout mapped to the user's request foraccess to the mobile application platform may, for example, comprise themain page layout of the mobile application when the user first accessesthe mobile application platform. Then, method 500 may proceed to block503.

At block 503, processor 303 may receive the page layout associated withthe mobile application platform, for example, from modular platform 306.Processor 303 may also send the page layout information and the user'srequest for access to the mobile application platform to API gateway308. API gateway 308 may extract data associated with the user's requestto identify information that can be used to develop one or more modulesfor display on the page layout. For example, a fluent interface of APIgateway 308 may extract data associated with the user's request and sendthe extracted data to one or more modular providers, such as modularproviders 310A-B, to develop one or more modules for display on the pagelayout.

Method 500 may proceed to block 504, at which processor 303 may receiveone or more modules developed by modular provider(s) via the fluentinterface of API gateway 308. The number of modules received may varybased on the user's request received at block 501. Then, method 500 mayproceed to block 505, at which processor 303 may assign the received oneor more modules to the page layout. In some embodiments, modularprovider(s) may have already identified a position associated with eachmodule in the page layout. In other embodiments, processor 303 mayassign each module to a position in the page layout. In someembodiments, the modules may be positioned based on the user's request.For example, the modules most relevant to the user's request may bedisplayed at the top of the page layout, while modules displayingproduct advertisements may be displayed at the bottom of the pagelayout.

After assigning the module(s) to the page layout, method 500 may proceedto block 506. At block 506, processor 303 may display the one or moremodules in the page layout on the mobile application platform. Asdiscussed above, the one or more modules assigned to the page layout maybe displayed in parallel to reduce latency in content loading or pageloading. In some embodiments, processor 303 may, via a circuit breaker,be configured to prevent a failure with one or more modules frominterfering with the display of other modules on the mobile applicationplatform or user interface. Accordingly, if one of the received modulesfails to load, processor 303 may be configured to continue displayingthe other modules in the page layout such that user of the user devicedoes not experience latency.

While the present disclosure has been shown and described with referenceto particular embodiments thereof, it will be understood that thepresent disclosure can be practiced, without modification, in otherenvironments. The foregoing description has been presented for purposesof illustration. It is not exhaustive and is not limited to the preciseforms or embodiments disclosed. Modifications and adaptations will beapparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of thespecification and practice of the disclosed embodiments. Additionally,although aspects of the disclosed embodiments are described as beingstored in memory, one skilled in the art will appreciate that theseaspects can also be stored on other types of computer readable media,such as secondary storage devices, for example, hard disks or CD ROM, orother forms of RAM or ROM, USB media, DVD, Blu-ray, or other opticaldrive media.

Computer programs based on the written description and disclosed methodsare within the skill of an experienced developer. Various programs orprogram modules can be created using any of the techniques known to oneskilled in the art or can be designed in connection with existingsoftware. For example, program sections or program modules can bedesigned in or by means of .Net Framework, .Net Compact Framework (andrelated languages, such as Visual Basic, C, etc.), Java, C++,Objective-C, HTML, HTML/AJAX combinations, XML, or HTML with includedJava applets.

Moreover, while illustrative embodiments have been described herein, thescope of any and all embodiments having equivalent elements,modifications, omissions, combinations (e.g., of aspects across variousembodiments), adaptations and/or alterations as would be appreciated bythose skilled in the art based on the present disclosure. Thelimitations in the claims are to be interpreted broadly based on thelanguage employed in the claims and not limited to examples described inthe present specification or during the prosecution of the application.The examples are to be construed as non-exclusive. Furthermore, thesteps of the disclosed methods may be modified in any manner, includingby reordering steps and/or inserting or deleting steps. It is intended,therefore, that the specification and examples be considered asillustrative only, with a true scope and spirit being indicated by thefollowing claims and their full scope of equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented system for modular loadingof information on a user interface, the system comprising: a memorystoring instructions; and at least one processor configured to executethe instructions to: receive, by a mobile service gateway, a request foraccess to a mobile application platform from a user device; transmit, toan internal application programming interface (API) gateway, a requestfor a page layout associated with the mobile application platform;receive, from the API gateway, the page layout associated with themobile application platform; receive a plurality of modules; assign theplurality of modules to positions in the page layout, wherein: theplurality of modules are developed using a fluent interface based on arelevancy of the plurality of modules to the request from the userdevice and based on position information of the plurality of modules,wherein: a module of the plurality of modules most relevant to therequest is assigned to the top of the page layout and developed firstusing the fluent interface, and a module of the plurality of modulesleast relevant to the request is assigned to the bottom of the pagelayout and developed last using the fluent interface, the fluentinterface is configured to extract data associated with requests for theplurality of modules, and each module is developed based on theextracted data; and display the plurality of modules on the mobileapplication platform.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein one or moremodular providers are configured to parse the extracted data andidentify at least one of metadata associated with each module orposition information associated with each module.
 3. The system of claim2, wherein the one or more modular providers are configured to aggregateat least one of the identified metadata or position information for theplurality of modules.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the mobileservice gateway comprises at least one of authentication service,logging service, or monitoring service.
 5. The system of claim 1,wherein the mobile service gateway comprises a circuit breakerconfigured to prevent a failure with at least one of the plurality ofmodules from interfering with the display of the plurality of modules onthe mobile application platform.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein thedeveloped modules are stored in a database.
 7. The system of claim 1,wherein the developed modules comprises an activatable elementconfigured to direct a user of the user device to a destination whenactivated.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein a number of modulesassigned to the page layout is adjustable.
 9. The system of claim 1,wherein the fluent interface is configured to receive a plurality ofrequests for data associated with each module in parallel.
 10. Thesystem of claim 9, wherein the plurality of requests are prioritizedbased on a position information associated with each module.
 11. Acomputer-implemented method for modular loading of information on a userinterface, the method comprising: receiving, by a mobile servicegateway, a request for access to a mobile application platform from auser device; transmitting, to an internal application programminginterface (API) gateway, a request for a page layout associated with themobile application platform; receiving, from the API gateway, the pagelayout associated with the mobile application platform; receiving aplurality of modules; assigning the plurality of modules to positions inthe page layout, wherein: the plurality of modules are developed using afluent interface based on a relevancy of the plurality of modules to therequest from the user device and based on position information of theplurality of modules, wherein: a module of the plurality of modules mostrelevant to the request is assigned to the top of the page layout anddeveloped first using the fluent interface, and a module of theplurality of modules least relevant to the request is assigned to thebottom of the page layout and developed last using the fluent interface,the fluent interface is configured to extract data associated withrequests for the plurality of modules, and each module is developedbased on the extracted data; and displaying the plurality of modules onthe mobile application platform.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein oneor more modular providers are configured to parse the extracted data andidentify at least one of metadata associated with each module orposition information associated with each module.
 13. The method ofclaim 12, wherein the one or more modular providers are configured toaggregate at least one of the identified metadata or positioninformation for the plurality of modules.
 14. The method of claim 11,wherein the mobile service gateway comprises at least one ofauthentication service, logging service, or monitoring service.
 15. Themethod of claim 11, wherein the mobile service gateway comprises acircuit breaker configured to prevent a failure with at least one of theplurality of modules from interfering with the displaying of theplurality of modules on the mobile application platform.
 16. The methodof claim 11, wherein the developed modules are stored in a database. 17.The method of claim 11, wherein the developed modules comprises anactivatable element configured to direct a user of the user device to adestination when activated.
 18. The method of claim 11, wherein thefluent interface is configured to receive a plurality of requests fordata associated with each module in parallel.
 19. The method of claim18, wherein the plurality of requests are prioritized based on aposition information associated with each module.
 20. Acomputer-implemented system for modular loading of information on a userinterface, the system comprising: a memory storing instructions; and atleast one processor configured to execute the instructions to: receive,by a mobile service gateway, a request for access to a mobileapplication platform from a user device; transmit, to an internalapplication programming interface (API) gateway, a request for a pagelayout associated with the mobile application platform; receive, fromthe API gateway, the page layout associated with the mobile applicationplatform; receive a plurality of modules; assign the plurality ofmodules to positions in the page layout, wherein: the plurality ofmodules are developed using a fluent interface based on a relevancy ofthe plurality of modules to the request from the user device and basedon position information of the plurality of modules, wherein: a moduleof the plurality of modules most relevant to the request is assigned tothe top of the page layout and developed first using the fluentinterface, and a module of the plurality of modules least relevant tothe request is assigned to the bottom of the page layout and developedlast using the fluent interface, the fluent interface is configured toextract data associated with requests for the plurality of modules, oneor more modular providers are configured to parse the extracted data,identify a position information associated with each module, and developeach module based on the extracted data, and the developed modules arestored in a database; and display the plurality of modules on the mobileapplication platform.